


Durin's Spark

by My_Trex_has_fleas



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dwarves, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 21:56:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Trex_has_fleas/pseuds/My_Trex_has_fleas
Summary: They called it Durin's Spark and it came in the forms of the elements of the earth, sky and sea. It had brought happiness and disaster, but when Dis' sons come of age, what will it bring them?





	Durin's Spark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Linane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linane/gifts).



> A gift for the wonderful, clever, talented Linane, who loves these boys with the power of a thousand suns. My part of the Durin's Day Gift Exchange.

_It was said that Mahal the Maker fashioned dwarves in his likeness, wishing to pass on his gifts and knowledge to his children._

_He crafted them to endure, his strong sturdy children with their inherent stubbornness and determination to not be dominated by any others. He made them proud and fierce, fighters as well as craftsmen, and he made them with all the love he possessed._

_It was also said that there were those dwarves who received special favour from Mahal. One such dwarf was Durin the Deathless, the first of his name and line. Legends told that when Mahal was crafting him on his anvil that a spark jumped from the holy fires that lit his forge and imbued During witb powers that others did not possess. He went on to be the Father of Dwarves and those that followed in his line had the same potential to be imbued with those same powers._

_They called it Durin’s Spark._

_This power ran through the line of Durin. The last to hold it was Durin VI but it passed when the Balrog was roused from beneath Khazad-dûm. He died fighting the Balrog, but his power had been the gift of fire and he was defeated at the hands of the enemy whose power was far greater than his own._

_The Spark fell away into distant memory. Sometimes there were flickers, small hints of the once great power the line of Durin had wielded, but nothing that would bring back memories of what had gone before._

_That was until Thrain II held his firstborn son in his arms and looked into eyes that were already darker than the sapphires that could be found in the deep subterranean rivers that flowed beneath Erebor. He named him Thorin II and smiled when his son wrinkled his face at him. Dwarf children were more precious to their line than any other thing._

_Or so he had thought._

_Thorin was followed by Frerin and finally Dis. Thrain was delighted, watching as his children grew strong. Their mother Nálá was every bit as delighted, her bragging of her children and their gifts ranging far and wide. Neither of them could have predicted just how special they were._

_The first hint came when Thorin entered his late twenties. He grew fond of standing on the battlements of Erebor, looking out into the sky. It was a most undwarven habit and his parents worried until the day when Thrain went to find him and saw Thorin standing with his hands spread out as the wind whipped around him. He was beardless yet, still a child by dwarven standards, but Thrain fell back in amazement at the power he now felt before him._

_Thorin’s gift was Air._

_With time he learned to use it wisely, herding clouds to rain over fields or to bring breezes underground. He could also stifle, draw the air out of places deep beneath the earth and he used this gift to smother dangerous fires._

_The people of Erebor were full of joy at this sign of good fortune and they praised Thrór and his family._

_Frerin followed not soon after. His gift was that of Earth._

_Now he and Thorin were a force to be reckoned with, in spite of their tender age. Frerin was able to move great quantities of earth, to stone walk and discover new caverns and veins of precious ores. He and Thorin would work together to creates spaces in the rock and fill them with air to create new spaces for the miners to access these riches and erebor grew even richer and more prosperous._

_Thrór was a happy king. He had everything his heart could desire, a family that was blessed and when his granddaughter was born, he knew she would be every bit as special as her brothers._

_Then something changed._

_It was not very noticeable at first, but then signs started to appear. Thrór became more and more obsessed with the riches that his kingdom provided. He stopped putting the good of his people first and took to walking in his treasure chamber, letting the gold coins and gems slide through his fingers. He barely paid attention to his wife or children, neglecting them in favour of spending his nights beneath the city and basking in the glow of gold reflecting the light of the torches._

_Then came the dragon._

_Many were slain, and many more perished in the fire that Smaug breathed through the vaulted halls. He took Erebor for his own and banished the dwarves, forcing those who had survived into exile. Thorin was barely in his thirties, forced to grow old before his time as he took his brother and sister and consigned his grandmother’s and mother’s bodies to the dragon. His father and grandfather were broken dwarves, the destruction of everything they had held dear turning them silent and full of woe._

_In their wanderings Thorin and Frerin cared for Dis as best they could, taking work where it was offered and training themselves to become strong and capable warriors. They had others with them, dwarves such as Balin and Dwalin. They had been in the service of their parents and now committed them to the service of the ramning Durins. Dwalin taught them weaponry and warcraft, Balin letters and the history of their people. These two were chief in shaping Thorin and Frerin and their gifts._

_When Dis came of age she manifested her own gift. Hers was the gift of Water._

_Now they were three and they used their gifts to earn their way and restore some credibility to the Line of Durin. Other dwarves heard of their gifts and sent them assurances that they would give them shelter. Chief among these was Dain Ironfoot, but they had no wish to live under another king’s mountain and so they demurred._

_Then came the Battle of Azanulbizar._

_Dwarves from all the Seven Kingdoms gathered to reclaim the kingdom of Khazad-dûm. They marched under the banners of Thrór and Nain and the battle raged on the slopes of Moria. Thorin brought storms winds and powerful blasts and Frerin ripped the ground up from beneath the feet of the orcs, but they were so numerous that even their efforts were in vain and Nain fell in defense of their kingdom._

_Thorin came of age that day, baptised in blood and he learned the extent of his powers. He continued to fight until he could barely raise his head and when he lost his shield, he ripped a great oaken branch from a single remaining tree and laid about himself with it, cleaving his foes and using it to protect himself._

_When the battle was done he and his cousin Dain stood side by side and grieved - Dain for his father and Thorin for his grandfather and the one he’d loved best._

_He’d never confessed to his parents that Frerin had been his One, and now he would never get the chance to. His beloved brother, the only dwarf who could make him laugh and whose blue eyes and golden hair had stood in such contrast to his own even as their powers had intertwined and grown so entangled that sometimes it had felt like they had held the same heartbeat in their chests._

_It had hurt so badly that Thorin had wanted to die._

_It had been the final push that had done it and now Frerin was lost to them all, his body somewhere inside the walls of Moria that he’d been trying to break single-handedly, but he’d pushed too hard and gone too deep and become trapped inside._

_The other dwarves had placed gentle hands on Thorin’s shoulders and murmured gruff words about it being the best place for a dwarf to come to rest, but Thorin knew better than that. He’d known that Frerin, for all his powers drew him into the earth, had loved the sky and the sun and the fresh air. He’d hated being underground for too long and he;d loved nothing more than lying in the meadow grass, the sun on his back and face as he’d thrown his head back above Thorin and cried out into the summer sky._

_Now he was gone and Thorin lost what little will he’d had to even go on living. It had taken three years for him to even start speaking to others again and he was never the same. The Spark inside him dulled and grew sluggish and he forgot how to take pleasure in the simplest of things._

_By contrast, Dis was sunny and loving as she was brought up a happy dwarfling. For whatever Thorin said or did in his own chamber, he was always there to provide and keep his little sister from harm. She was the most precious thing to him and when Thrain left the Blue Mountain where they finally made their home, he took over and for the first time he began to smile again. It helped that Dis was as fiery as he was, all too willing to bully him out of his melancholy. She kept his hands full and they grew to maturity in the same home, not wanting to be separated._

_Dis had come into her power a little before thirty so when the battle was raging she’d not been allowed to take part, but she’d thrown herself into using it following what had happened to her brother. She was now able to wield it with grace and practice and it was she who got Thorin to use it again. The dwarves of the Blue Mountain were farmers as well as miners and they joined hands and used the Spark to bring rain and gentle breezes, to clean the air of the mountain and find fresh springs deep underground and Thorin grew content, even if his heart still ached for its missing half._

_Not all Sparks were Durins, this much must be said. It was a rare gift but not an unheard of one and the day a strapping young dwarf with fiery red hair and the gift of Metal came to town, it made Dis sit up and take notice._

_Vili was cocky and handsome, strutting around while dwarven maidens swooned in his wake. He knew how desirable he was, that no family would refuse him courtship of their daughters or sons should they take his fancy. His skill as a blacksmith was unsurpassed, his power making the metals simply do his bidding to create weapons and crafts that were the finest any had ever seen. He had a strong will to match and when he laid eyes on Dis, daughter of Thrain, he fell in love with her on the spot._

_Dis was, of course, not impressed in the slightest. She cared not a whit that he was a fellow Spark or that he was highly sought after by others. She didn’t so much as give him the time of day, walking past his stall in the marketplace with her nose in the air._

_Vili was smitten. He'd never seen anyone so lovely. He adored Dis, with her dark blue Durin eyes and soft near-black beard and her hair twisted into complicated braids. He loved the way she glared at him, the way she intentionally ignored every overture. He basked in the reflected glow of her annoyance and listened with pride to how she bartered and ran her brother’s forge._

_She was perfect._

_Dis was flattered, in spite of herself and as time wore on she began to see that for all his cockiness, Vili was honest and kind and funny and she grew used to his small gestures of affection. It was only by pure luck that she finally realised she was in love with him and not a moment too soon because his father had started negotiations with a prominent family to betrothe him to their daughter. In fact, it had been their courting dinner that had been interrupted by Dis charging in, grabbing Vili by the front of his shirt and then kissing the daylights out of him before berating him for even thinking that he was going to marry anyone but herself._

_Thorin didn’t even try to change her mind. Dis was immovable as the tide when she wanted something and now she’d decided she wanted Vili, she was going to have him come hell or high water._

_They married in the summer and Vili moved into their chambers beneath the mountain and Thorin spent a full month stuffing cotton in his ears because the noises he was subjected to were inhuman._

_Fili was born four years later and Thorin would swear that his conception could be traced back to their very wedding night. Mahal knew they’d been diligent in consummating it. He had the emotional scars to prove it._

_Dis and Vili had both been delighted and the birth of their son had been the tipping point for Thorin, especially once he’d taken his first look into summer blue eyes and saw the thick dark gold hair that covered the baby’s head. It was as if Frerin had been reborn and he felt a deep abiding love for his new nephew, his gruffness ebbing away as he held him and kissed his soft head and swore that nothing would ever harm him._

_Fili was a sweet quiet dwarfling. Like Frerin he loved the outside and Thorin took advantage of this, carrying him on his broad shoulders as they gave his parents some much needed alone time. Fili was curious and would point things out, and Thorin would tell him stories and explain the ways of beasts and birds. They would wander till nightfall and then return home to find Vili and Dis affectionate and giggly like two courting dwarves. Then Fili would grin at Thorin and Thorin would roll his eyes in mock annoyance at them and they shared a companionship that gave Thorin some relief from his deep seated sadness._

_It stood to reason that those afternoons alone would bear fruit, so to speak, and it was only a mere six years later that Kili was born. Thorin felt the tug at his heart. He and Frerin had only had five between them and he watched as Fili gre increasingly excited, pressing his ear to Dis’ stomach to listen to his brother or rested a pal against her to feel Kili kick in response to his voice. It made him feel a little disquieted that Kili only did that for his brother and Thorin worried that they might suffer the same fate that he and Frerin had._

_The night Kili was born, there was a terrible storm and it seemed to have lodged part of itself inside the dwarfling. He was a terror, spirited and too full of energy for any of them to handle, except for Fili. He was prone to tantrums but also the most loving child, his extremes of temperament so much like those of his mother it was almost frightening. He had the Durin dark hair but his warm brown eyes were his father’s and he was horribly indulged, no more so than by his older brother. Fili loved Kili to distraction and he was the perfect babysitter, waling with Kili’s pudgy little hand held tightly in his at Thorin’s side as they now walked through the woods, stopping to let him ride on his back when Kili’s little legs got tired._

_They grew as dwarflings do, Fili’s blond hair lightening and turning summer gold and Kili’s the same near black shade as his mother and uncle’s. They were freckled and healthy, their sturdy little bodies giving them away as dwarves. Balin had taken over their education and Dwalin was already talking about training them to weaponry and Thorin looked at what had become of his birthright and he was happy for the first time in a very long age._

_Then came the worst news they could have had._

_Vili had been on a caravan, going to trade with a settlement to the north when they were attacked by orcs. It had been the first sign in what would become a familiar peril to the dwarves and all of Middle Earth, but then it simply meant that Vili was never coming home._

_They brought his body back and he was buried beneath the mountain as was his right, being the husband of Dis. Fili and Kili were too young to really comprehend much apart from the fact that their adad had been happy and alive when he’d left, kissing them on their pudgy cheeks and promising toys when he returned and the cold body of a man they barely recognised from the wounds he bore._

_Dis lost herself in her grief and it rained for weeks._

_Then eventually she pulled herself back together and got on with the task of raising her sons and minding her brother and Thorin added another bit of grief to his seemingly endless store if it._

_Life went on and they spent their days in the same way they always had, Thorin working the forge and Dis keeping house and Fili and Kili grew and they forgot all about the Spark for a bit._

*********

Kili was bored, which was in itself not an unusual state of being for him. Today though he wasn’t just bored, but actually looking to get into trouble and that was where it all started.

He watched as Mister Balin leaned over Fili’s parchment and corrected something he’d written. Fili was focused as always, his blue eyes fixed on his work and Kili wanted to go over and upset his ink pot, just to see what kind of reaction he’d get. He drew in a dark lock of hair, nibbling at the end in the way that usually got an exasperated sigh from his mother, and narrowed his hazel eyes at his brother.

Bored, bored bored.

It didn’t help that it was a lovely day and that he wanted to be outside in the woods more than anything. He’d gotten a new bow for his last name day and he was a little desperate to try it out. He wanted Fili to go with him, but that wouldn’t be possible until Fili had finished his lessons. His teaching always ran longer, what with him being the heir and all. Kili was very thankful that he was labelled the less flattering spare, knowing it gave him more freedom than it did his brother.

He eased himself off his stool and sidled in the direction of the door. Balin paid him no mind and neither did Fili and it was only a foot or so and then he was through and running for freedom. He as just past twenty, nimble and quick and an old man like Balin wouldn’t be able to catch him. He chortled gleefully as he made his escape, turning a corner and running smack into someone, both of them ending up in heap.

‘Ori!’ he got up, and held out a hand to the young scribe. ‘What are you doing?’

Ori huffed and got up, giving the now scattered rolls of parchment he’d been carrying an unhappy glance.

‘I am going to do my chores.’ he snorted. ‘What are you doing? You’re supposed to be in your lessons.’

‘Finished.’ Kili declared. ‘Come, let’s go to the woods.’ He took Ori’s hand and tugged. ‘I’ll show you my new bow.’

‘No thank-you.’ Ori said, as prim as an old maid. ‘The woods are full of bugs.’

Kili snorted a loud laugh that bordered on a bray and gave him a look.

‘I’ll let you shoot it.’ he cajoled and saw the wavering in Ori’s eyes. He was usually kept inside, his work and his older brother’s protectiveness meaning he very seldom got to go outdoors.

‘I’d like to.’ He was downcast. ‘But Dori will tan my hide if I go without permission.’ He picked up his scrolls and Kili helped, lumping them in his arms. ‘I wish I could.’

‘Maybe next time.’ Kili said and left him in the passageway, hurtling for their chambers. Thankfully Dis was obviously at the market with Thorin and Kili grabbed his bow and cloak and was gone in a flash.

He left the mountain without too much trouble. Everyone knew Dis’ younger son was a little odd, preferring trees and open skies to the stone walls of their home, and he skipped off in the direction of the thick copses of trees that bordered the farmland around the mountain. He moved until he was hidden in the trees and started walking far more quietly than most people even knew he was capable of. He could be very stealthy when he wanted to, mostly to eavesdrop on his mother and uncle or sneak up on Fili, jumping out at the last minute and scare the snot out of him.

***********

‘He was right here.’ Balin was resigned. He’d had his contrary charge disappear on him one too many times to feel in the slightest bit surprised.

‘He’s probably gone outside.’ Fili said and watched Thorin pinch the bridge of his nose. ‘You know what he’s like when the day’s good. And he has a new bow.’

‘Then I suppose we shall have to go and retrieve him.’ his uncle sighed. ‘Run and tell your mother we are on a retrieval mission.

Fili grinned. As much as he enjoyed learning, he also loved being on the hunt with Thorin and his brother. It was a little amusing that today, they would be hunting Kili rather than with him but any opportunity was a good one.

They stopped to collect their own weapons and tell Dis that her youngest had gone stray and then retreated as she turned the air blue. Fili was now smiling broadly. As terrifying as Thorin could be, he quailed in the face of his baby sister’s displeasure.

‘Go and find him!’ She waved an annoyed hand at the door. ‘I have more important things to do than chase after a child that has less than no sense at the best of times.’

Fili knew it was just bluster. After his adad had died, Dis had pulled them close, all four of them. She was as fierce in her protection of them as any mother bear and he went to hug her and she kissed the top of his head.

‘That boy.’ Her dark blue eyes were fond. ‘You need to keep better watch of him, Fili.’

‘He’s as slippery as an eel.’ Fili protested. ‘I didn’t even hear him leave.’

‘Well, we have spoken to Dwalin and asked him to train Kili with the bow as well as training him with the sword.’ Thorin said, getting their cloaks from their hooks. ‘Maybe that will wear him out a little bit.’

‘I wouldn’t count on it.’ Fili laughed. ‘He has enough energy for three.’

‘Go on.’ Dis waved her wooden spoon. ‘Go and get him and bring him back here so I can box his ears.’

They left her to her own work and made their way to the entrance gate into the mountain. A quick conferral with the guards told them that Kili had indeed gone out to the woods, a hour before at least. Thoring grumbled all the way down to the fields and then stopped to look at the sky.

‘I don’t like that.’ he said and pointed at the gathering clouds on the horizon. ‘You know what it means?’

Fili did. Thorin had taught he and Kili the weather signs.

‘Storm’s coming.’ he replied. ‘The sky is green at the edges.’

‘We better get a move on.’ Thorin instructed. ‘I don’t want to get caught out here if there is going to be lightning.’

‘You could always blow the clouds away.’ Fili suggested and got a stern look.

‘The Spark is not for convenience, Fili.’ Thorin said and they started their walk into the trees.

**********

Kili was having the time of his life.

His new bow was magnificent, and he’d already shot a few rabbits which now hung from his belt. It was a little bit of overkill to be sure, but he needed to have something to buy his way out of trouble. Dis was not to be trifled with.

He started to realise that maybe he’d strayed a bit too far from where they normally hunted when he looked around to find the pathway back and couldn’t. That made him frown, puzzled as to why he was now lost, and then Kili heard something overhead that made him jump.

He had never really liked thunder and now he could feel that strange electric sensation in the air and knew that the darkness that was quickly coming on overhead meant that he’d really gotten himself into a pickle. At least he was in the trees, but the first flash, followed by a deep rumble a few moments later, made him jump and he started to jog a little faster in the hopes he would make it back to the mountain before things got stormy for anyone to really be outside.

It started to rain a short while later and Kili pulled his hood over his head and huffed. This had not been in the plan at all.

**********

‘Where in Mahal’s name could he be.’ Thorin was now very grumpy and Fili had to admit he wasn’t far behind. They had been looking for close on two hours and still hadn’t found Kili. He had obviously wandered too far off the paths, something he was well known for doing, and the longer they stayed in the woods, the worse the weather was becoming. It was raining steadily now, but there was more than that. Fili could feel something very strange in the air, a tightness in his skin that he’d not felt before.

‘Uncle Thorin.’ he stopped and glanced up between the trees. The odd greenish tinge in the sky had intensified and now he could almost smell the storm in the air. ‘Perhaps we should find somewhere to shelter?’

‘I think you’re right, lad.’ Thorin was looking concerned. ‘I hope your brother has the sense to do that as well.’

They were about to turn and start heading back to the rocky outcrops they had passed which marked the edge of the hunting grounds when they heard the sound of something crashing through the trees.

‘That sounds like him now.’ Fili chuckled and sure enough, Kili came barrelling past them a second later.

‘There you are!’ Thorin all but bellowed and he squeaked in fright and nearly fell over. ‘You mother is going spare and you are in serious trouble with Mister Balin for sneaking off!’

‘I was bored.’ Kili protested, dark eyes pleading. He was soaked through, his cloak muddy and his dark hair hanging in bedraggled stands around his face. ‘And I fell in a creek and I’m wet through.’

‘Daft child.’ Thorin muttered. ‘Come on then, we need to get back before this gets any worse.’

They started the long trek back and after another hour they finally got to the fields. By then the thunder was rumbling and lighting flashing to light up the trees around them.

‘This is as bad as I have ever seen it!’ Thorin had to shout to be heard over the storm.

‘We should stay here!’ Fili shouted back. ‘We won’t be safe in the open!’

‘No!’ Kili’s voice was high pitched and edge with fear. ‘Please can we just go back in.’ He was clinging to Fili’s arm, his face pale. There was a tremendous crash behind them and he whimpered and buried his face in Fili’s arm.

Thorin and Fili exchanged a look.

‘We’ll have to make a run for it!’ his uncle shouted and Fili looked at Kili. ‘I’ll carry him!’

Kili managed to scramble on to Thorin’s back and they broke from the trees, the rain pelting them as they out their heads down and ran.

About halfway across though, Fili felt something very odd take hold of him. He felt like his whole body was starting to buzz, a low vibration that seemed to rattle his teeth almost right out of his head. He skidded to s stop and looked up. The clouds above him were surging like the waves on the sea and he was rooted to the spot. The feeling intensified and suddenly he felt like he was about to float away.

Up ahead Thorin seemed to sense something was wrong and he stopped and turned, him and Kili staring at Fili like he was mad.

‘Come on boy!’ he shouted but Fili couldn’t move, lost in watching the storm rage above him.

It felt almost as if time itself was slowing down and even as he watched, he saw the lighting coming down to towards him, moving so fast he couldn’t escape.

‘Fili!’ Kili’s scream was lost in the sound of it as it split the very air, white and blazing hot and Fili found himself reaching up, his fingers straining to where the bolt was descending from above.

Then it hit.

It was like sticking his hand right into the heart of a forge, everything going bright and a blinding spark of pain going right through his arm and into his very heart, his whole body seeming to stop in that single split second. Fili felt like he was definitely going to die, going to burst into pieces as the electricity flowed through him.

Then it just stopped.

He opened his eyes, half expecting to find himself in Mahal’s Halls of Waiting. No-one could have taken a bolt like that and survived.

What Fili saw instead was his own hands in front of him, now surrounded by a glowing blue nimbus and he looked up to see Thorin and Kili gaping at him, their twin expressions of shocked astonishment at how the electricity was crawling up and down his arms, flicking blue sparks from his fingertips and making his very hair stand on end.

Then it overcame him and the last thing Fili remembered was the ground rushing up to meet him.


End file.
